Pubdate: Tue, 28 May 2002
Source: Star-Ledger (NJ)
Copyright: 2002 Newark Morning Ledger Co
Contact:  http://www.nj.com/starledger/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/424
Author: Bob Barrett

DRUG TESTS CAN HELP

In her May 7 letter, Melissa Gordon, a senior at Hanover Park High School, 
claims that drug tests violate rights. Before retiring from a large New 
Jersey utility, I wrote and implemented a drug testing policy for employees 
of contractors working at electric and gas facilities. The policy was 
modeled after policies of other companies that met all legal requirements 
to protect the rights of workers but also to assure that workers were not 
using illegal drugs.

We required that testing laboratories submit monthly reports indicating the 
number, not the names, of those failing drug tests. We consistently 
averaged about 5 percent using illegal drugs.

I often use the tragic stories of Darryl Strawberry and Robert Downey Jr. 
when I discuss this subject with people who share Gordon's view. 
Strawberry, a great athlete, never reached his potential because of 
addiction to drugs. Downey, a talented actor, went to jail because of 
drugs. If drug testing had been mandatory in their youth, it is very 
possible that their drug use would have been detected and they could have 
stopped before they were addicted.

Bob Barrett, Clark
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